I recieve alerts reguarly for information about kids' club happenings around the country. Each week I get at least a couple about coaches, advisors or leaders that have molested the children under their care. It is sad, but it does happen.
So when you send your child off to that practice or meeting, how can you know she's safe? While there is no foolproof guarantee, there are things you can do to minimize the risk.
Introduce yourself and your child to the leader
I recently had a young girl show up at my Girl Scout meetings asking "Is there where Girls Scouts is? I'm going to join." That really concerns me. Her parents just assumed everyone would be OK with it. We weren't and sent the girl home on the bus with a message that if she'd like to join, we needed to talk with her parents. Didn't her parents want to know who would be taking care of her kid for those few hours?
It is best if you can drop your child off at the first meeting or practice and say "hello" to the coach and directly introduce your child. Making this simple connection lets the coach know you're there and you care. If you can't do this, call the coach ahead of time and let her know to be looking for your child. Meet her face to face as soon as you can.
Be Involved as Much as Possible
Help out with a practice, drive on a field trip, supervise a special event or just do what you can. You don't need to be in the leader's way, but all leaders can use some help from time to time. You can take advantage of this by observing the dynamics of the group and how the leader interacts with the children, with your child. This also lets the leader know you care and are paying attention to what is going on.
Check with the sponsoring organization
Many sponsoring organizations have ways of checking out volunteers before giving them volunteer status. When I applied to be a Girl Scout leader, they ran a background check. This is not unusual and many groups use this as one screening tool.
Most groups also have rules about who can be alone with children and where. They don't allow a single adult to be alone with the children. They must always have 2 adults present. Both the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts have rules about the sleeping arrangements for camping and other trips -- generally the adults are not allowed to sleep in the same tent or room with children.
Talk to your kid
Encourage your child to tell you what he does at the club and listen to what he says. You'd be surprised what he'll say during casual conversation.